[ilmonster]

I am new to handgun cartridge reloading (have loaded thousands of shotshell rounds on my MEC 9000) and have a question. When a reloading manual specifies a specific brand of bullet, the Alliant Powder manual in front of me specifies a 158 gr. Speer LSWC in .38 spcl for instance, can I freely substitute any other "brand" of LSWC in the same weight keeping everything else constant (i.e. primer, powder, etc.)?

[NCsmitty]

Substitution of different brands of the same weight is acceptable as long as you are not pushing maximum loads to start.

NCsmitty

[243winxb]

Start low, work up. As long as you do this with the powder charge you should be OK.

[WNTFW]

I'll expand on what NCSmitty said.
It is advisable to still work up a load with a different bullet. The profile or other factors may be different enough too cause more pressure. I think it is more critical in rifles but it just makes good sense to be a little cautious.

[ilmonster]

Thanks for the responses. I only use my handguns for punching paper, so I would not be loading max. loads anyway.